#also yes this is a crossover AU i have rotating in my mind i love the source material and layton's and claire whole thing no shade to that | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

thychesters · 3 months

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20 Questions for fic writers

@acewithapaintbrush posted and said "go for it" so here i am! putting this under a cut because it got long lmao

How many works do you have on Ao3?

2. What's your total Ao3 word count?

303,124

3. What fandoms do you write for?

dc/batman/birds of prey, with some until dawn and uncharted thrown in there. right now it's mostly one piece though.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

ship to wreck. (one piece/zolu)

ocean breathes salty. (one piece/zolu)

ronald mcdonald eat your heart out. (dc/batman/bruce & dick)

the salt & the sea. (one piece/zolu/reincarnation au)

misery loves company. (dc/batman/jason & damian)

5. Do you respond to comments?

yes! i appreciate them a ton. sometimes it might take me a few days but i try to respond to every single one

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

ooh that's a tough one, because while i like to include a lot of notes of angst, most of the endings have been on decent notes. maybe if you go out in the woods today (until dawn) because it's a vanishing hitchhiker au.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

probably the salt & the sea. (one piece)! i'd like to think all of that build up to the end and the reunion was worth it. (and it was to me, at least!)

8. Do you get hate on fics?

luckily i have not!

9. Do you write smut?

hehe i have and i want to again!

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you have written?

nope! not really my thing.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

years ago i noticed some similarities in ideas, but nothing too major.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

i haven't!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

i have... considered doing so...

14. What's your all time favorite ship?

since i tend to bop between fandoms, i don't really have one! right now it's zolu, but i also really enjoy the dynamics of the straw hats as a whole. i'm rotating them in my mind like a rotisserie chicken.

15. What is a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

i think unfortunately the first op fic i started is going to end up being something the buzzards (me) pick at for lines and ideas. or maybe someday in the far future it will see the light of day. (i started it 70 episodes into my watch and stabbed zoro haha)

16. What are your writing strengths?

i like to think i can convey emotions and character interactions. i also enjoy some of the physicality between them, so i hope that shows as well!

17. What are you writing weaknesses?

balancing out dialogue between a large cast of characters and pacing in action sequences. want to keep enough happening to keep things moving, but not repeat myself four times.

18. Thoughts of writing dialogue in another language in fics?

why not, if it works?

19. First Fandom you wrote for?

honestly i think my friend and i wrote twilight parody fic when we were in middle school LMAO

20. Favorite fic you have written?

more recently i'm very proud of the zolu reincarnation au i've mentioned above, but i'm also really, really happy with the way the zoro pining fic ode to an ocean. turned out. that one has a few of my favorite lines in it! (also maybe my next wip ... or who knows)

thanks for the tag by proxy ace!

if they're interested in doing so, i'm tagging @lookforanewangle, @beck-a-leck, @sciencemyfiction, @ghostlandtoo, and @microcomets! (hi claire!)

#thanks ace!#ohhh man i'm going to bed ok good night everyone #kate blabs

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polisena-art · 1 year

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meu deus do céu!!!! i sent the ask hoping to have a little chat and a laugh, i truly didn't expect you to make this amazing art about it!!! the details and depth you added are amazing!!!! 70s just happens to be my favorite decade for fashion and aesthetics so that was the cherry on the cake (e a rosinha 🥺🥺) (fico feliz do meu ask ter te inspirado, sou uma priv acc no twt e não uso tumblr de vdd, mas tô sempre acompanhando suas artes, seu trabalho é d+++) (zé and karl m are actually besties and i'm glad you captured that 😌)

ah então é vc que ta dando quote tweet privado nas minhas artes, safado?

I simply LOVED that prompt, thanks for sending it my way!! I don't usually do art for asks but yours was just the perfect chance to do a crossover of two of my fandom darlings!!

It also ended up being 70s inspired because I had just done Panchito and José in that setting on my last drawing, so the concept was still hot and rotating on my mind like a microwave- AND YES 70s fashion is a banger and Rosinha just had to be there to also look pretty and competent while wearing cute outfits.

Again I must say I just love the enemies to friends to lovers dynamic and I think it's not used as much for Zé and Panchito which,,, IS A SHAME, I think they're perfect for it!! Zé being capable of the most convoluted plans to get what he wants and Panchito's straight forward ways are always funny to see clash and the Criminal x Detective AU showcases that to the extreme!!

#ask #anonymous #Zé is specially based in this AU and Panchito may have some problems seeing nuances but they'll end up balancing each other out in the end #Anyways the same as you inspired me to do art for it I hope those drawings also inspire more people to do more with this AU

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birlcholtz · 3 years

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Fic Questions

tagged by @the-lincyclopedia thank you!! (fun game: watch my writing get progressively less formal as the post continues. by the end it’s like what is capitalization)

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

77!

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

434,378 as of this week but it does go up quite regularly

3. How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

Okay so in terms of what’s on my AO3, I have Check Please, All For the Game, Sharp Zero, HP, and Miraculous Ladybug. I also have The Forbidden LOTR and PJO Fanfiction (as in, I’ve written it, but it’s never seeing the light of day)

(technically there is a PJO fic out there that has seen the light of day but I orphaned it because I was tired of getting comments asking about when it would be updated)

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

and then i met you (and the whole world changed)

for the better

Knew It Was You

come home (to you, to us)

sin bin schematics

All of these are Check Please and all of them except Knew It Was You are part of my Zimbits Airport AU!

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I do! It’s actually a very recent thing that I’ve started not responding to literally every single comment. Mainly I respond because I love talking about my writing so I am going to seize that opportunity when it comes up

6. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

Oh, DEFINITELY Happy Birthday (HP). Check out that MCD tag ahah. (I say HP but what I really mean is that I write fic about Regulus Black. The Regulus Black-centric tag is my home in the HP fandom)

fun fact: this is a very short fic that I wrote when I was 15 and basically forgot about until recently, and then I reread it recently and went holy shit?? I pulled NO punches????

7. Do you write crossovers? If so, what is the wildest one you’ve written?

Not a ton? I think a lot of the fandoms I write for don’t really mesh that well. That being said, the aforementioned orphaned PJO fic is actually a PJO/ML crossover, so there’s that

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Nope! Sometimes I get comments that are just.... really confusing? And a more common thing is that in my AFTG fic I’ll get comments from people who are so focused on Andreil (or the most common ships in general) to the point that like. they miss the point of what I actually wrote. Those are annoying but they’re not hate, they’re very enthusiastic, they’re just... enthusiastic about a story I’m not writing? So it’s a bit frustrating.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

No sjflskgjhgf I struggle enough to write kissing, I think if I ever tried to write smut my brain would just shut down. I’ve managed some fade-to-blacks (which are mostly in WIPs that haven’t been posted) but they rely HEAVILY on the powers of implication

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of!

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No, although I have occasionally made a brief go of it, not to post, more as an exercise for myself in a language that I’m learning. Anyway I never finish them so I’m gonna say no

12. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Not really? I’ve definitely group brainstormed fics and then written them (the best example of this being Q&A (AFTG), which was the product of a truly off-the-walls group chat), but I tend to do all the actual writing myself. I think the way I write would drive a co-writer up the wall since it’s very disorganized and I don’t write stuff down because ~I know what’s gonna happen I don’t need notes~ and it would infuriate me if I was co-writing with me lmao, so I won’t inflict that on someone else

13. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

I regularly move through ships I’m SUPER focused on, like it’s kind of a rotation. I will forever and always ship Percabeth though.

14. What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

Okay so if you follow me at @birlwrites you may know this already, but i have this ‘warmups’ document that is just like, random ideas i get that i don’t necessarily want to finish but i just want to try out for a bit? and i have a rule that once a ‘warmup’ is more than 10 pages long (so 11+) then it has to be moved to its own document, just to make scrolling through the warmups doc easier. but usually, a warmup only passes 10 pages when i’m INTO it. so i have a bazillion wips i will probably never finish. i complain about this a lot. i have so many wips. i don’t need more.

here’s one: it’s titled ‘interrobang doesn’t know they’re dating’, it’s basically a full outline for a chowder/tango fic and it would be SO cool if i could ever like. get around to writing it. but i am constantly swamped with writing projects, so it’s probably not gonna happen. if anyone’s interested in adopting it though i’d be down for that!! i think it’s a fun idea i just almost def won’t write it myself

15. What are your writing strengths?

SNAPPY DIALOGUE AND SNARKY INTERNAL MONOLOGUE. my writing is COMEDIC, 90% of my ideas are based on a funny snippet that popped into my head, a lot of my worldbuilding is based on ‘hey you know what would be hilarious’ (whenever i explain how larai selects a chosen one in the rainfall universe i start laughing, which is a STARK contrast to how it plays out on the page), i love writing funny stuff!!

also i think my writing sounds nice, a lot of the time i pick words/syntax based on sound and flow so there’s that too. and i have lots of ideas! i don’t struggle much with writer’s block because a) i have a lot of strategies to deal with it and b) i have a lot of ideas to help get around it/work with it

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

PHYSICAL INTIMACY LMAO, sometimes in my end notes on shippy fics you can see me complaining ‘it took me literally 4 hours to write that very brief kiss’. also sometimes the humor in my writing gets in the way a bit, i have to very consciously put it away so characters can actually have serious, genuine emotions. also i don’t like outlining and i tend not to get betas for fanfiction so like..... i do my best continuity-wise but having really tightly plotted stories is just not my focus lol. (and i do put more effort into that for original stuff, it’s just fic where i kind of go wild)

17. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

If the reader’s supposed to know what it means, then writing it in another language is iffy for me. (stuff like terms of endearment which come up a lot in fic are fine imo, you can just put a note in to translate them and your reader will prob remember)

If the pov character isn’t supposed to understand it, and it doesn’t matter if the reader understands it, then ig it’s fine? but unless you already speak the other language (and i am NOT confident in my ability to translate english into literally any other language), then i think it’s way easier to just note that a character’s speaking x language and provide tone indicators, body language cues, etc. so the reader understands as much as the pov character.

That being said there are def times when it’s used super effectively--the dialogue in spanish in cemetery boys comes to mind! that’s not fanfic but it’s still creative writing so w/e

so i guess it comes down to: does actually writing out the dialogue in the other language serve a purpose? if it doesn’t, then you’re filling up the screen with words your reader isn’t likely to understand, which i try to avoid doing

18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

so the first fandom i actually *wrote* for was PJO, but i distinctly remember creating warrior cats OCs when i was little. i never actually did anything w them but i had them and my favorite was a riverclan warrior named shellstream i remember this VIVIDLY

19. What’s your favorite fic you’ve ever written?

oh boy. okay so this is hard because i feel like i’m continuously improving as a writer. like in the sense that my writing is getting closer and closer to really matching my own taste? my favorites tend to always be my current projects as a result. and i do really love set those ghosts alight (HP) but it feels a little like cheating to say a fic i haven’t even finished writing yet. even though it’s def not cheating, that’s just the direction my brain is taking it.

i’m gonna say and then what? (OMGCP) because i’m super proud of the prose (especially ch 2 aka the first actual prose chapter), survived by (HP) for SUCCESSFULLY WRITING AN EMOTION and making readers cry :), and Q&A (AFTG) because i’m literally the one who wrote it and yet it still makes me wheeze. those are all fics i reread occasionally, because i’m big enough to admit i enjoy rereading my old stuff! (just like. to a point. some of my old stuff i can’t look at anymore because all the mistakes stick out to me like they have spotlights shining directly on them)

this was fun!! i’m gonna do an open tag because i just started my fall semester and brain tired. i know sometimes people see open tags and assume the op didn’t really mean it but I MEAN IT, PLEASE DO THIS AND TAG ME!!!!! YES YOU READING THIS

#tag games #long post #birl talks

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kingofthewilderwest · 5 years

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Don't worry, I take over my sleep time to read and write fanfictions. I wouldn't have time otherwise! I have an entire Word page with only links to fanfictions I still have to read! And it's all right to not read fanfictions if you don't want to. It's just an hobby among others. Anyway, you wrote fanfictions?? Now I'm curious, could I have a link, if you don't mind? Have a good night too and sorry for my grammar mistakes, english isn't my first language (btw, thank you for the likes

From this. Sorry I’m slow replying!! thanks for your wonderful messages! :)

No worries about grammar! Your English is great, and even if it weren’t, that’s no bother to me either. :) The fact that you’re communicating in a language that isn’t your first… just means you have extra skills and are even more awesome! :)

I love how dedicated you are to looking at others’ fanfictions, even creating a Word document page to make sure you remember them. That’s beautiful and cool. And I’m getting curious about what you’ve written, too!

Thanks so much for asking about my fics - this touches me! Sure, I’m happy to share! I tend to post all fics on tumblr and FFN, with FFN being my primary hub. On tumblr I use the tag #my fanfiction and tag all stories by their title. My FFN profile is kingofthewilderwest.

I’m so so so so so SO touched when anyone reads or interacts with my fics (though since I write casually, I ask no constructive criticism

THE VIGILANTE’S WAR

HTTYD. YEAR: 2014. LENGTH: 57,110 WORDS. A mysterious, antagonistic dragon rider dubbed “the Vigilante” crosses paths with Hiccup, and her increasingly violent actions appear to be leading to war against Berk.

He tightened his hands, loosened them again. Breathed in, breathed out. He could feel himself stooped in the dirt, his shoulders hunched over his head, his knees buried in the ground and tucked underneath his torso. His neck was bent low close to the earth, providing him a good view of his hands and the ground and nothing else.

Well, and the blood.

That can’t possibly be all mine.

- PROLOGUE: FROM OUT OF THE HAZE

HTTYD 2′s original drafts had Valka as the main antagonist. I found this so interesting that I decided to rewrite HTTYD 2 - with a few of my own spins - on this concept. One of my most well-known fics, “The Vigilante’s War” is where I’ve gotten the most thorough reviews and most emotional reactions.

THE VIGILANTE’S LEGACY

HTTYD. YEARS: 2014-2016. LENGTH: 20,546 WORDS. There’s been four years of war between three factions. Drago’s army. The Vigilante and her dragons. Berk and their allies. But now, Chief Hiccup believes there’s a way to end the conflict. Sequel to “The Vigilante’s War.”

Hiccup spoke up. Cleared his voice. Tapped his pointer finger apprehensively on the cell’s iron door. “You said we were making a mistake.” Might as well speak straight to the point of his visit. “Something about ‘you and every one of your warriors are making a mistake’ or – or something like that.”

For a moment Hiccup wondered if Valka actually would reply. The calculating gaze she gave him from the corner of her prison certainly did not seem a positive sign. However, then, with a steady, lilting cadence to her voice, she succinctly affirmed, “I did.” Just those two words. Nothing more.

- VIII. THE MISTAKES OF WAR

It’s unfinished; I haven’t updated because I ran out of steam and didn’t receive enough reader feedback encouraging me to continue. Though I did have a very vivid final chapter in mind… that I still love… which I never got to…?

MEMOIRS

HTTYD. YEARS: 2015-2016. LENGTH: 44,289 WORDS. My ongoing collection of drabbles for HTTYD. Angst, pain, comfort, humor, crossovers, crack, it’s all there. Favorites include “Family Portrait,” “Stubble,” “Buffcup the Brawny,” and “Remember When.”

He held her hand softly, one wrinkled hand laid gently on top of another. It was just her and him now in the house all alone – for their children had left on a voyage with the grandkids, and would not be back for a week yet, if even two. It evoked the quietness of the old days, back before they were old, back during the times when they were newlyweds and younger even than their grandchildren were today. Oh, but the smell of her hair was just as refreshing now as when it was blonde.

- REMEMBER WHEN

DINNER AT DRAGON’S EDGE

HTTYD. YEAR: 2015. LENGTH: 5,452 WORDS. The gang’s settling in at Dragon’s Edge. To make sure everything operates smoothly, Hiccup suggests a chore rotation system. That means everyone has to do their fair share of the cooking… but it doesn’t mean everyone is a fair cook.

“Oh my gods, is this dinner or what the rats threw away?” Snotlout exclaimed, terrified at the Unidentified Edible Object before him.

Tuffnut picked it up with one experimental hand and held it out before him at a safe distance. People would have held poisonous snakes or bloodied torture devices more cheerily. Squinting his eyes and peering carefully at the peculiar specimen pinched between his fingers, rubbing under his chin with his other, free hand, Tuffnut remarked, “Looks something like what Barf and Belch poop out after they get sick and…”

- 1. ASSIGNING JOBS

This humorous fic I think is where I do best capturing HTTYD character personalities and interactions.

[SUPER]HERO THE HARD WAY

HTTYD. YEARS: 2014-2017. LENGTH: 86,566 WORDS. In a modern world where Berk is full of superheroes battling the League of Outcasts, power-less Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third struggles to receive appreciation for who he is. Through his crime-fighting journey, Hiccup learns that, while he might not have powers, he can become a Hero the Hard Way.

“I wasn’t born with anything. Don’t have anything. I’m the son of Chief Stoick “Skullcrusher” and I don’t have anything. Not even a superpower to turn objects purple. Which frankly would be completely pointless but at least it would have been something.“

He realized he was babbling and promptly shut his mouth. He looked over at Fishlegs, who appeared to be wordlessly processing the information. The teenager appeared baffled moreso than anything else, which at least meant he was not outright rejecting him.

“So you’re going to train to be a superhero… and you don’t have any powers? I got that right?”

“You got that right.”

“Wow.” Fishlegs said.

Hiccup waited for more.

“That’s actually really cool.”

- CHAPTER THREE: SIDEKICKED

This started as me intending to write one crack chapter. It turned into me envisioning a ROB / DOB modern AU where all characters were superheroes. The final product became a retelling of HTTYD 1′s basic concept: Hiccup gaining his peers’ approval despite being different. Somehow, despite me 70% adlibbing by the seat of my pants (should I be admitting this?), I had great fun. And it brought in the most reviews, follows, and favorites of any of my posted stories! Thanks for the reads and support, everyone!!!

RESET OR RESUME

UT. YEAR: 2016-2017. LENGTH: 85,841 WORDS. Gaster’s research unlocks the secret of time travel. After the Royal Scientist’s untimely end, one of Gaster’s colleagues - Sans - finds himself with the power to Reset. Confronted with unpleasant timelines and dangerous choices, Sans must decide how to navigate through time… if it’s worth resetting for a better future, continuing with hope for the present, or simply giving up.

No longer timid and silent, the human happily babbled all sorts of nonsense to Sans, everything from how to bake snow pies to how weird Sans’ skull looked to how beautiful the ribbon in their hair was to their opinions of Papyrus’ ‘battle body’ to how their mom didn’t like the color black to their personal opinion of ferrets to a long narrative of their encounter with a snail-loving old lady they met on the other side of the Ruins door. Everything could be the topic of a conversation. There was no filter and even less sense of restraint for this child.

“How are you a SKELETON?” their happy little high-pitched voice squeaked. They flew gallantly over a twig that rested, flat, on the surface of the snow. Powder flew everywhere as they landed heavily into the snowbank. “That means – that means you should be DEAD, you know!”

“who says i’m not dead?” Sans trolled with a wink.

With a shrieking giggle, they exclaimed, “Don’t be silly! Only ghosts are dead!”

“i could be a skeleton ghost.”

“No you – no you can’t.” The human seemed to be quite confident about their knowledge in paranormal metaphysics. “You can be a skeleton. You can be a ghost. But nobody – NOBODY – can be a skeleton ghost.”

“is that so?”

“YES so! You CAN’T be both. That would be wrong.” Maybe the human mentally categorized skeletons and ghosts as separate Halloween creatures, ensuring they were mutually exclusive concepts. It was always challenging to comprehend a child’s train of logic. “Except…” and now the child paused, leaning down and tugging at the sleeve of their sweater. Something thoughtful – at least as much as one so young could be thoughtful – passed over their eyes. They cocked their head to the side and stared at Sans. In the same sort of innocence with which they had talked about ferrets, the human inquired, “…can ghosts also be dust?”

- 5. KNOCKS [[File 5.2 IH-20150701-3-3]]

I have particular fondness for this fic. I spent more energy and care with this than any other I’ve posted. Drenched it through with UT lore. Edited and revised thoroughly. Had two beta readers examine my ASL for accurate representation. I wrote extensive outlines that were several page long color-coded charts, had all this meticulous structuring going on…

The problem was, this was an impossibly ambitious project. Life got in the way, too. The 85,841 words here aren’t close to the end of Part 1. The final two Parts were going to explain the weirdness within Part 1 (the story doesn’t begin in chronological order - it gets pieced together like a puzzle). What I planned to write would have included a complex characterization arc for Sans, every human child that’s visited the underground, and multiple resets containing main character deaths… until the story would end with Sans confronting Frisk in the Genocide Route.

Hopefully, despite the incompleteness, this is enjoyable from its comedy to its angst! I would at least encourage people to read the first few chapters! Or “Socks” - an entire chapter devoted to Sans and Gaster pulling sock pranks on each other.

SOMEHOW THEY’RE STILL OFFICERS

FMAB. YEAR: 2018-2019. LENGTH: 6,036 WORDS. Ahhhhhh yes. Team Mustang. The hand-selected, elite group of military officers who effectively spend their time… doing nonsense.

Everyone was scrambling at once. Mustang rushed forward to greet their guest, perfect composure only broken by the fast pace at which he moved. In fact the colonel’s posture was almost a proud enough display to make his lack of shirt go unnoticed. But Falman chucked his cards away at the same time he tried to salute; Breda was ducking from Falman’s sudden card shower; Fuery was launching pants and underwear in Havoc’s face; and Lieutenant Hawkeye, obviously abashed to be in this room at all, was covering her eyes with her hand in what was either her life’s longest sigh, or a pathetic attempt to hide her face and identity.

- WE WERE JUST PLAYING CARDS

My collection of FMA drabbles, particularly stories of Team Mustang shenanigans. Prompts / requests welcome for more adventures!

I have a few other drabbles posted, too. I also have unfinished chapters of Voltron fanfictions on my computer that I could share, too? Maybe I should? I’m currently working on several Royai fanfictions, other FMA drabbles, and a longer Deponia fanfiction.

Thank you again for being so nice and connecting with me over fanfiction and fandom and FMA and more. You’re a really wonderful and cool person and you made my day.

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jercythesiscrying · 5 years

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Weirdo Duo / Shadow and Light | KageHina and KagaKuro, Slash or Gen, G, 2.1k

NaNoWriMo Day 21: Crossover AU Day Four of AU Week! Posting a new AU fic every day for one week.

Summary: Kageyama and Hinata get lost at a mall in Tokyo, but two boys and their dog help them out.

Can be read as gen or slash. Can also be considered canon compliant even though this technically fell under AU Week.

Read on Ao3

A/N: I took a poll and HQ x KNB crossover won. Here's what happens when the two main pairings meet at a Maji Burger lol. Love and kisses thanks to @steak-titties91 for the beta ♥♥♥ All other mistakes are my own.

“We’re so late,” Tobio huffs, holding tight to his bag as he sprints through the mall. Next to him, Hinata easily keeps up.

They come to a halt at an exit, looking around but unable find a single familiar face. Panicking, Tobio pulls out his phone, seeing the screen flash the time at him before shutting off.

“Fuck, I’m out of battery!” he says, tapping at it, but it’s no use. His phone’s definitely dead.

“Kageyamaaaa,” Hinata whines, “I told you not to use your phone when we were eating. Mine’s dead too, remember?”

“It’s not my fault you didn’t charge your phone last night!” he argues, before pocketing his phone. “Now we don’t have a way to call everyone.”

Hinata looks around with a blush. The look on his face does not comfort Tobio in the slightest.

“What now?”

“I think we’re at the wrong entrance,” Hinata admits. “I might’ve taken the wrong turn somewhere.”

“Dumbass! You got us lost now!” Tobio yells before smacking Hinata in the back of the head. The middle blocker growls, pouncing on him. Tobio screeches when Hinata pulls his hair.

They were supposed to meet with the rest of the team at the mall entrance so they could return to the hotel together, but somehow Tobio got stuck with his moron of a partner when everyone split for lunch. Now they have 1) missed the meeting time and 2) gotten lost in the mall.

When they finally stop fighting, Tobio’s rubbing his cheeks because Hinata had pinched them. He asks, “How many entrances even are there in this place?”

“I don’t know!” Hinata says, scratching his head. “I thought this was the entrance we’re supposed to meet at!”

“Obviously not, idiot, since no one’s here.”

“Shut up! Like you know anything.”

Tobio scans the shops nearby, remembering something. “Aren’t we supposed to be at the entrance next to a burger place or something?”

“Maji Burger!” Hinata gasps. “I think I know which entrance we’re supposed to go to!” He grabs Tobio’s wrist, beginning to sprint away with Tobio trailing behind.

“Slow down, dumbass!” he yells as he trips all over himself.

Hinata looks over his shoulder with a smirk. “You saying you can’t keep up?”

Tobio pulls his wrist from Hinata’s grasp to race ahead. Like hell that idiot’s going to beat him.

“Oi, Baka-yama, you’re not even going the right way!”

They eventually find the entrance with the Maji burger, but their team is nowhere in sight.

“Shit,” Tobio curses, “it’s because we’re late.”

Hinata whines. “Aw, I thought they would have waited for us!”

“They said to be on time, dumbass.”

“Still.”

They exit the mall, continuing to look around for any sign of Karasuno but finding no one. Tobio frowns, clutching his gym bag close.

“Kageyama!” Hinata calls. When Tobio looks over, he sees Hinata pointing at something behind a bench. “Look!”

Tobio walks over, brows furrowing when he sees what’s caught his partner’s attention:

A dog.

It’s small, basically a puppy, with incredibly fluffy black and white fur and an adorably cute face. It wears a black and white jersey with a giant SEIRIN emblazoned across the chest. It sits obedient and well mannered behind the bench, without a collar or a leash, staring up at them with giant blue eyes.

Hinata crouches down, handing reaching out to pet his head.

“Aw, so cute!” he coos when the puppy sniffs his hand, and Tobio immediately says, “Don’t touch it! What if it bites you?”

Hinata ignores him. “You’re not gonna bite me, are you?” he says in a sweet voice, and Tobio frowns. What the hell kind of tone is that anyway?

“Stop touching it!” he demands when Hinata continues to pet the thing. “We don’t know if it has fleas or something.”

The middle blocker scratches the puppy’s chin, baby-talking to it as he pointedly ignores Tobio.

“He doesn’t have fleas.”

Tobio jumps, completely startled by the voice that joins their conversation. He’s only less embarrassed because Hinata actually topples over from where he was squatting.

Next to them is a plain looking boy with blue hair, dressed in a black and white tracksuit. He has a drink in one hand and carries a gym bag with the other. He looks at Tobio first, then at Hinata. Something about his eyes remind Tobio of something, but he can’t tell what yet, mostly because when the hell did this guy even show up?!

“What are you doing?” the boy asks, and Tobio notices how flat his voice is.

“Just, uh, petting this dog,” Hinata finally answers. “Is he yours?”

“Yes,” the boy says. “That’s my dog.”

“Kuroko!” another voice calls out, and Tobio looks behind him to see a tall boy with dark red hair and wearing the same tracksuit walking over. Weirder than the fact that his eyebrows split at the end is that he’s haphazardly carrying about a dozen loose burgers in one arm.

“Kuroko!” the taller one calls once more. He gives Tobio and Hinata the once over, and Tobio scowls at him. “These guys giving you a hard time?”

“Kagami-kun,” the blue haired one (Kuroko?) says. “No, I was just wondering what they were doing with Nigou.”

“Nigou?” Hinata chirps. “Is that his name?”

“Yes. His name is Nigou Tetsuya.”

Hinata giggles, and Tobio rolls his eyes. “Why Nigou? Who’s Ichigou?”

Kuroko points at himself. “Me. I’m Kuroko Tetsuya. The First.”

Tobio and Hinata shoot him confused looks. “Huh?”

“It’s the eyes, dude,” the taller one (Kagami?) says, dropping down to sit on the bench with his legs spread wide. He takes a huge bite out of one of the burgers, and Tobio’s eyes widen at the fact that he just ate half the sandwich.

“Eyes...?” Hinata mutters. Curious, Tobio looks at the dog, then back to Kuroko, then back to the dog once more.

Their eyes are exactly the same.

“Woah!” Hinata squawks, petting Nigou again. “That’s awesome! How’d you get a dog that looked like you?”

Kuroko shrugs. “I didn’t. I found him behind a restaurant and we adopted him.”

“‘We’?” Tobio asks.

“F’he f’eam,” the taller one says, biting around another burger.

“Kagami-kun, it’s impolite to speak with your mouth full.”

Kagami rolls his eyes.

“What team?” Tobio presses. What if they’re from a volleyball team? They’re in tracksuits, after all. Maybe Tobio can check out their setter...

He takes a seat on the other end of the bench, trying to sit as far away as possible from Kagami, who’s apparently trying to using his mouth as a vacuum to eat everything. Hinata continues to play with Nigou, petting his face and scratching his ears. Kuroko seems unbothered by everything and begins to sip on his drink.

“Basketball team,” Kagami says. After he burps, he mutters, “‘scuse me.”

Tobio deflates, lips pursed. Basketball, pfft.

“Ooh,” Hinata hums. “It’s so cool that you get to have your own team pet!”

“Yes,” Kuroko says, smiling softly. It’s the first time Tobio’s seen any emotion from him aside from a blank stare. “Nigou’s the official team mascot.”

“So cool!” Hinata suddenly turns to him with bright eyes, and Tobio knows that face means trouble. “Hey, Kageyama, what if we got a pet mascot for the volleyball team?”

“Idiot,” he immediately says, “who’s gonna take care of it?”

Hinata shrugs. “Iunno, maybe the managers or sensei.”

“We have to look after Nigou,” Kuroko pitches in, taking another slurp of his drink. “The teacher advisor for our team has no responsibility, and we don’t have any managers, so we rotate who looks after Nigou. Even Coach.”

“See?” Tobio says. “We’d have to look after the thing, and I don’t have time for that. And neither do you!”

Hinata continues moan and complain. “You’re a spoil sport.”

“Shut up.”

“You are though.”

“I said shut up!”

“Hey, what were your names again?” Kagami asks, seemly indifferent to their bickering. Tobio assumes it’s because he’s so busy with his burgers that he could care less.

“Oh, I’m Hinata Shouyou!” the middle blocker says, smiling brightly at Kagami and Kuroko. Hinata’s always been the friendliest on the team, but Tobio’s witnessed too many times that it gets him into trouble.

With that in mind, Tobio’s much more wary, mumbling, “I’m Kageyama Tobio.”

“We’re first years, from Karasuno!”

“Karasuno?” Kagami repeats. “Never heard of that school.”

“We’re from Miyagi!” Hinata says, turning his attention back to Nigou. “We’re just visiting Tokyo because we have a practice match, but then we got lost –”

“You mean you got us lost,” Tobio mutters, glowering at him.

“– and separated from our team and that’s when we found Nigou.”

“Uh, shouldn’t you be trying to look for your teammates then?” Kagami asks.

“We would but our phones are out of battery. We couldn’t find anyone even though we’re supposed to meet them at Maji Burger,” Tobio replies.

“Do you want to use my phone?” Kuroko offers. “I don’t mind.”

“Ahh, yes please!” Hinata says, hopping to his feet. Kuroko digs into his pocket, pulling out a green flip phone that he passes to Hinata. “Thank you, Kuroko-san!”

“You can just call me Kuroko.”

“Thank you, Kuroko!”

Hinata begins to fiddle with the phone, babbling away once he finds someone who picks up. While he does, Kagami turns to Tobio to ask, “Do you play?”

“Play what?”

“Basketball.”

Tobio scoffs. “No. I play volleyball.”

Kagami hums. “I’ve never played. Ball is life.”

“You mean volleyball.”

“Nah, man, basketball.”

Tobio grunts, glaring away. There’s no point in arguing with a giant who inhales burgers like he does air. When Kagami stands up to toss away all his burger wrappers, Tobio takes in how tall he is, frowning at how it’s wasted on a sport like basketball. Kagami could make a pretty good middle blocker, he thinks.

“I talked to Suga-san!” Hinata announces, flipping Kuroko’s phone shut. “Captain and Takeda-sensei are on their way to pick us up!”

“Alright.”

Hinata passes the phone to Kuroko. “Thanks again for letting me use your phone! And for playing with Nigou!”

“It’s okay,” Kuroko replies, taking another sip. At the loud slurping noise that comes from the cup, it’s obvious he’s run out of whatever he was drinking. “Oh, I finished my shake.”

“Wanna get another one?” Kagami asks. “I could use another burger.”

He can eat even more? Tobio thinks. Hinata actually says something out loud though.

“Another burger?!” the middle blocker repeats. “Didn’t you eat, like, twenty just now?”

“Ten, actually,” Kagami clarifies, “but I can go for a few more.”

“I don’t know why you’re surprised,” Tobio says to Hinata. “You eat a lot too.”

“Hm, not as much as Noya-senpai or Daichi-san though.” Hinata considers something, tilting his head. “I don’t think I’ve ever eaten ten burgers at once either.”

“If you’re thinking about doing that right now,” Tobio warns, “I’m going to punch you in the face. Suga-san told us to save our money and we had lunch already.”

Hinata glares at him but doesn’t argue.

“It’ll be my treat,” Kagami offers. “I’d be surprised if you could actually eat as much as me, lil’ dude.”

Hinata growls. “Oi! I’m not little!”

Kagami barks out a laugh. “You’re shorter than Kuroko, bro, you’re definitely little.” Tobio chuckles at that, but then Kagami says, “And I bet you can’t eat as much as me.”

“You’re on then, Kagami!”

“No, you’re not!” Tobio yells.

“Kagami-kun, please stop challenging Hinata-san.”

Epilogue

Half an hour later, Daichi and Takeda make their way to Maji Burger to pick up Karasuno’s two idiot problem children. He can’t believe no one got a hold of neither Kageyama nor Hinata until Suga got a call from a random number. He hopes that they at least listened when Suga told them to stay at the burger joint.

He and sensei walk inside to find Kageyama yelling at Hinata, sitting in a booth with two boys he doesn’t know. Hinata is leaning back against his seat with his head pointed upwards, drool slipping from his lips. One of the boys Daichi doesn’t know (large, with red dark hair and weird eyebrows wearing a tracksuit) is in a similar position, rubbing his stomach while the other one (much smaller, with blue hair and equally blue eyes, also in the same tracksuit) admonishes him for apparently provoking Hinata.

“I told you not to do it, dumbass!”

“Kagami-kun, look what you’ve done: Hinata-san can’t move now.”

“Shut up, Kuroko, he’s the one that accepted the bet.”

Daichi doesn’t know what’s happened since he lost track of his teammates, but from what he’s gathering he’s going to make them regret ever accepting whatever petty bet Hinata just lost.

Takeda interrupts their bickering, and Daichi wonders how on earth he’s ever going to stop these two from getting into trouble.

(More notes on Ao3.)

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